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Randomised trials link the Mediterranean diet to roughly 30% fewer heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular deaths in high-risk people. Evidence on longevity and dementia is promising but mostly observational, and some headline effects shrink once lifestyle is accounted for.
Nine months after the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, Milan's athletes' village houses students and the IOC calls the spread-out model a success. The costly Cortina sliding track, damaged after the Games, is the legacy still being tested.
Europe's sleeper network changed sharply in 2026. A cooperative operator revived Paris–Berlin and launched Brussels–Milan, while state-backed routes such as Paris–Vienna disappeared. Demand is strong; the cost of running night trains is the problem.
The oceans absorb more than 91% of the extra heat trapped by greenhouse gases, and their heat content set a record for the ninth year running in 2025. In October 2026, sea surface temperatures hit another monthly record.
Europe received a record 793 million international tourists in 2025. Venice, Barcelona and Amsterdam now use entry fees, higher taxes and limits on holiday lets, and in November 2026 the EU adopted its first tourism strategy.
Padel is expanding fast: courts, clubs and players have multiplied, and it made its Asian Games debut in 2026. But player estimates range from 19 million to 40 million, and no study proves it is the world's fastest-growing sport.
A passkey is a sign-in credential made of two cryptographic keys, one kept on your device and one held by the website, so there is no password to steal or type. As of October 2026, the FIDO Alliance estimates 7 billion passkeys are in use.
Library borrowing is at record levels, but mostly on phones: digital loans through the Libby app passed 820 million in 2025. In-person use has recovered since the pandemic, while in England staff numbers have nearly halved since 2010.
More large employers now require staff in the office three to five days a week, but working from home has not disappeared. In the US, about a quarter of paid workdays are still done from home, and office attendance peaks mid-week.
